Maroon Friday Update: Sept. 18
September 18, 2026 | Athletics
Happy Maroon Friday!
It's a great day to be a Mississippi State Bulldog!
I hope you're wearing your Maroon with a little extra pride these days because so many great things are happening here at State. It's always important that we never settle as we strive for continued excellence, but at the same time, we should still take a few moments to celebrate our successes along the way. We'll do a little bit of that today as we also look ahead to an exciting weekend and upcoming weeks.
We could begin pretty much anywhere. We're excelling across the board so far this fall. Football, soccer, volleyball and men's and women's golf have all provided highlights to open up the 2026-27 athletic year, and starting this weekend, we'll add men's tennis, women's tennis and cross country to the mix.
Let's start with football.
On Saturday afternoon at South Carolina, our Bulldogs will take the field with as much momentum as any team in the country. It's been a special first couple of weeks, and that is a credit to our players, coaches, staff and the fans who have passionately supported this team. We've made plays in every phase of the game and, most importantly, we're 2-0.
We're all looking forward to the challenge ahead as we travel to Columbia and kick off Southeastern Conference play.
As I've shared with you before, so much of what happens in college athletics is the result of people working incredibly hard behind the scenes. Fans see the finished product - the game, the video, the atmosphere, the social post - but behind each of those moments are real people who care deeply about Mississippi State and pour themselves into every detail of our department, our brand and the experience we create.
This week provided a pretty fun example.
If you're on social media, you may have seen our football team's Week 3 uniform reveal, which quickly took off online. I'll include a link to the video below, but I wanted to know where the idea came from, so I asked our talented creative team.
The answer made me smile.
John Swinney, our Senior Director of Football Content & Strategy, told me the idea came to him late one night while he was up with his newborn son, Stetson Lee Swinney. The George Lopez Show came on, with its memorable opening sequence, and an idea was born: What if we recreated it with Mississippi State Football?
And that's exactly what the team did.
It's a small story, but I love what it represents. Behind the content that people across the country are watching and sharing is a new dad, up late with his baby, who saw something that sparked an ideaโand a talented group of people who brought that idea to life in a way that showcased Mississippi State.
So, a special thank you to baby Stetson for the late-night inspiration, to John for recognizing a great idea when he saw one and to our entire creative team for continuing to find fun and authentic ways to put Mississippi State on center stage.
Our team told me they've put together three special ticket deals for Missouri, and each one was inspired by a number from last week's win โ a 25-point margin of victory, just 13 rushing yards allowed by the defense and a 90.1 grade from our highest-graded player. Grab yours today right here while they last!
Volleyball is also piling up the victories. In fact, Coach Julie Darty Dennis' team just swept the Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns on their own floor last night and swept Jackson State earlier this afternoon. Congratulations to Lindsey Mangelson, who picked up her 500th career kill in the match to reach that mark quicker than any other Bulldog in history. The team is now 9-1 with one more match to follow this weekend. Go ahead and start making your plans to Pack the Griss when SEC play opens for volleyball in just over a week as LSU comes to town on Sunday, September 27.
It's also a big upcoming evening for our soccer program. We'll have our first home SEC test of the season tonight against Florida. We've won seven of our first eight matches of the season, including beating the school up north on the road in the first league game of this year's campaign last week. It's the seventh straight year we've won the Magnolia Cup. Let's keep it all rolling tonight. It's a Black Out at the MSU soccer field, so come on out and pack the pitch for this evening's 6 p.m. match.
Shout out to our golf programs as well! Both already have top-5 finishes in tournaments this season. Our women are aiming for another strong showing this weekend at the Mason Rudolph Championship. Our men will be back in action in early October at the Cullan Brown Collegiate.
If all this wasn't enough, our cross country season got underway this morning, while our fall tennis seasons are about to get going, too. On the heels of back-to-back Elite 8 appearances, Coach Matt Roberts' men are back in action at home this weekend, facing three SEC foes. Friday's match against Auburn starts at 2 p.m., then we host Vanderbilt Saturday at 10 a.m. before closing out the weekend on Sunday with a 1 p.m. tilt against Alabama. This upcoming week will see our women's tennis student-athletes back competing again, too.
Speaking of fall action, there'll be plenty of it on the diamond. Tickets are available now click here to secure for MSU baseball's fall exhibition at Dudy Noble Field to be held on Friday, October 30, at 6 p.m. The contest will wrap up an exciting slate of fall games for the Diamond Dawgs, who also face competition from Auburn, Southern Miss and Western Kentucky away from Starkville.
Nusz Park will also be busy in the coming weeks. Be sure to check out the full fall softball schedule as Coach Samantha Ricketts' bunch begins their quest to get back to the Women's College World Series.
With all this going on, it's hard to believe basketball is just around the corner as well. We're just over a month away from your first chance to catch the men's team at The Hump. Get your seats now and join us on Friday, October 23, as we host Memphis in an exhibition contest powered by State 1878.ย
While you grab those tickets, go ahead and make sure you're all set for the men's and women's regular seasons. Grab your season tickets, or check out one of our other ticketing plans that best fits your schedule, and let's pack The Hump all year long for both our men's and women's teams.
Speaking of special, I wanted to also brag on some of our student-athletes who keep on showing our success at Mississippi State extends far beyond competition. Women's basketball's Aryss Macktoon and men's basketball's Thomas Bassong each represented us at the recent SEC Basketball Leadership Council meetings. The goal of the leadership council is for student-athletes to serve as a conduit of communication from their teams to the conference office on a variety of issues and we thank Aryss and Thomas for being our voices in the room.
Aryss and her teammates also recently had the chance to host MSU's ACCESS Program at a practice. Judging by the photos, it's hard to tell whether it was the attendees or our student-athletes that had the most fun!
Also, it's so cool to see Josh Hubbard continue to use his platform in such a positive way time and time again. He recently brought more smiles to kids' faces as he made a stop by an elementary school here in Mississippi. Josh epitomizes our S.T.A.T.E. values โ Serve. Together. Act. Transform. Excel.
Last week I shared that my wife, Rachel, celebrated her birthday on Sunday. We have another special celebration coming up in the Selmon house. Shayne Selmon turns sixteen on Monday! Happy Birthday, Shayne!
I also want to give a shoutout to Baker Andrew Phillips for sporting his best maroon for Maroon Friday with his dad, Mitch, who is Assistant A.D. for Strategic Facility Enhancements & Brand Advancement.
Let's continue to sport our best Maroon on Fridays like Baker and Mitch! Let's paint our state Maroon and White on Fridays!
Hail State!ย
Zac
It's a great day to be a Mississippi State Bulldog!
I hope you're wearing your Maroon with a little extra pride these days because so many great things are happening here at State. It's always important that we never settle as we strive for continued excellence, but at the same time, we should still take a few moments to celebrate our successes along the way. We'll do a little bit of that today as we also look ahead to an exciting weekend and upcoming weeks.
We could begin pretty much anywhere. We're excelling across the board so far this fall. Football, soccer, volleyball and men's and women's golf have all provided highlights to open up the 2026-27 athletic year, and starting this weekend, we'll add men's tennis, women's tennis and cross country to the mix.
Let's start with football.
On Saturday afternoon at South Carolina, our Bulldogs will take the field with as much momentum as any team in the country. It's been a special first couple of weeks, and that is a credit to our players, coaches, staff and the fans who have passionately supported this team. We've made plays in every phase of the game and, most importantly, we're 2-0.
We're all looking forward to the challenge ahead as we travel to Columbia and kick off Southeastern Conference play.
As I've shared with you before, so much of what happens in college athletics is the result of people working incredibly hard behind the scenes. Fans see the finished product - the game, the video, the atmosphere, the social post - but behind each of those moments are real people who care deeply about Mississippi State and pour themselves into every detail of our department, our brand and the experience we create.
This week provided a pretty fun example.
If you're on social media, you may have seen our football team's Week 3 uniform reveal, which quickly took off online. I'll include a link to the video below, but I wanted to know where the idea came from, so I asked our talented creative team.
The answer made me smile.
John Swinney, our Senior Director of Football Content & Strategy, told me the idea came to him late one night while he was up with his newborn son, Stetson Lee Swinney. The George Lopez Show came on, with its memorable opening sequence, and an idea was born: What if we recreated it with Mississippi State Football?
And that's exactly what the team did.
It's a small story, but I love what it represents. Behind the content that people across the country are watching and sharing is a new dad, up late with his baby, who saw something that sparked an ideaโand a talented group of people who brought that idea to life in a way that showcased Mississippi State.
And while it's one game at a time and full focus on Saturday against South Carolina, of course we will be excited to be back together in Davis Wade Stadium next Saturday night when we host Missouri. We'll be under the lights with a 6:45 p.m. kickoff. It'll be an environment you'll most definitely want to be a part of. If you haven't yet, get your tickets, WEAR WHITE, and let's white out the Tigers in StarkVegas on September 26.The Game Three Uniform ๐ด#HailState || @kd_937 pic.twitter.com/UrFYfxoOXC
โ Mississippi State Football (@HailStateFB) September 17, 2026
Our team told me they've put together three special ticket deals for Missouri, and each one was inspired by a number from last week's win โ a 25-point margin of victory, just 13 rushing yards allowed by the defense and a 90.1 grade from our highest-graded player. Grab yours today right here while they last!
It's also a big upcoming evening for our soccer program. We'll have our first home SEC test of the season tonight against Florida. We've won seven of our first eight matches of the season, including beating the school up north on the road in the first league game of this year's campaign last week. It's the seventh straight year we've won the Magnolia Cup. Let's keep it all rolling tonight. It's a Black Out at the MSU soccer field, so come on out and pack the pitch for this evening's 6 p.m. match.
Shout out to our golf programs as well! Both already have top-5 finishes in tournaments this season. Our women are aiming for another strong showing this weekend at the Mason Rudolph Championship. Our men will be back in action in early October at the Cullan Brown Collegiate.
If all this wasn't enough, our cross country season got underway this morning, while our fall tennis seasons are about to get going, too. On the heels of back-to-back Elite 8 appearances, Coach Matt Roberts' men are back in action at home this weekend, facing three SEC foes. Friday's match against Auburn starts at 2 p.m., then we host Vanderbilt Saturday at 10 a.m. before closing out the weekend on Sunday with a 1 p.m. tilt against Alabama. This upcoming week will see our women's tennis student-athletes back competing again, too.
Speaking of fall action, there'll be plenty of it on the diamond. Tickets are available now click here to secure for MSU baseball's fall exhibition at Dudy Noble Field to be held on Friday, October 30, at 6 p.m. The contest will wrap up an exciting slate of fall games for the Diamond Dawgs, who also face competition from Auburn, Southern Miss and Western Kentucky away from Starkville.
Nusz Park will also be busy in the coming weeks. Be sure to check out the full fall softball schedule as Coach Samantha Ricketts' bunch begins their quest to get back to the Women's College World Series.
With all this going on, it's hard to believe basketball is just around the corner as well. We're just over a month away from your first chance to catch the men's team at The Hump. Get your seats now and join us on Friday, October 23, as we host Memphis in an exhibition contest powered by State 1878.ย
While you grab those tickets, go ahead and make sure you're all set for the men's and women's regular seasons. Grab your season tickets, or check out one of our other ticketing plans that best fits your schedule, and let's pack The Hump all year long for both our men's and women's teams.
- Get your baseball fall scrimmage tickets here.ย
- Get your men's basketball fall exhibition tickets here.ย
- Get your women's basketball season tickets here.ย
- Get your men's basketball season tickets here.
Speaking of special, I wanted to also brag on some of our student-athletes who keep on showing our success at Mississippi State extends far beyond competition. Women's basketball's Aryss Macktoon and men's basketball's Thomas Bassong each represented us at the recent SEC Basketball Leadership Council meetings. The goal of the leadership council is for student-athletes to serve as a conduit of communication from their teams to the conference office on a variety of issues and we thank Aryss and Thomas for being our voices in the room.
Aryss and her teammates also recently had the chance to host MSU's ACCESS Program at a practice. Judging by the photos, it's hard to tell whether it was the attendees or our student-athletes that had the most fun!
Hail State!ย
Zac
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